Furnace-grate construction



5 shunts-sheet 1 R. H. Kuss runnen snm: cows'rnucnon rnpd nay 12 1921 5 Sheets-Snot 2 R. IH. KUSS PURIIACB GRA-IE CONSTRUCTIGN mad liay 12. .1921

R. H. KUSS l FURNACE GRATE CONSTRUCTIOIVI' Filed May 12. 1921 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 .e ,l/LUG-I Eoberfjws am? Oct. 27,1925..

n. H. Kuss MIAGE MMT! CONSTBUCTIU' r11-d las 12. 192i s smb-.smc 4 Patented Get. 27, 1925,

Ul-N'IITED *S T A TE T UFF -I ROBERT H. fxnss, OF `c irinoiieo, ,To :1K-.n Eni-innen .GOMPANL ,A i i CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

frUnNAcE-Gfnn'lfn CONSTRUCTION, i

Appiiation inea Mayas, 1921." -Sriai-lno. 468,927;

To all whom t muy concern! Be it known that I, ROBERT KUss, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident oi Chicago, Cool; County, [State of Illinois, 5 have invented a certain Vnew and useful VIniprov'einent in FurnacelGrate Construction, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to 'ffurnacegrates in general, but more particularly to thosey in which the grate is inclined to 4feed the burningl and coking fuel .downward toward 'the bridge Wall, and which have a hopper for feeding the coal to 4the upper portion of the grate. 'Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novel and' approved construction .whereby the feeding Iot the coal from the @hopper to `the grate is facilitated by certainimprovements hereinafter described, and whereby the `burning and cokiiig fuel is caused to slide downward on the giate, from tiine to time, by ,reasonot certain improvements which inake it possible lto give ,the grate, or certain portions thereof, a shaking inotion which .not .only

lcauses xthe burning and coking fuel to slide downward toward the bridge wall, but which also tends to release` the coal troni the hopper onto the upper portion ot' the grate, as .will hereinafter more i'ullyappear.

lt is also an object to provide certaindef tails and 'features of construction `and coinbinations tending to increase `the general eihciency and the desirability of a `furnace r f grate o i' this particular construction.

To these and other useful ends theinvention consists in i'natters hereinafter setfoi'th and claimed, and shown inthe .accompanying ldrawings .in `Which-- 'Figure Il is a longitudinal section of. a

furnace grate embodying the principles ot" tlieinvention, being a section Online 1er-1 in Figure f3,`lool r ing inthe direct-ion indicated by the arrows.

Figure Q'isasiniilar view, being a Vsection transverse supporting ineinbei-s beneath the gratenot lbeingfshown.

"Figure is a ldetail sectional view.

Figure 6 is adetail' section on line 6A@ in Figure v1.

"Figui'eT is a section on 'line"" -7 in ure 1.

in "Figure 1.

"As `thus Aillustrated, the invention coinprises a --tront traine 1 lforming thestation-V ary structure at the fronti-ofthe furnaceand provided at suitable Aheight 'with aneinclinedfplate 2 which, in conjunctionwith the inner vertical plate 3, jfornisa hopper tor `feeding the coal downward to the grate. The bridge `wall 4 lis of `any suitable Lknown oi' approved character. 1inclined stationary frames 5 and 6 haveltheirupper ends bolted,

at '7 to thefniain traine -1,being interlocled with the latterat, and `the lower ends of tliesefraines are sec-ured'by'bolts 9 to the ed on*'tlietransverseinernbers 14 and 15,

which ineinbgers are in turn boltedto thestationary' fr aignes otlthegra-te structure.4 The inovablegrate barslalternatewith the-'stan tionary grate barsybeing shorte-i'at each end than. thestationajry bars, as lshown and are supported Lby ,pivot rods -17 on the upper ends of the larins'l'S ofithetwo rock sliaft's 19 and 20, which latter"havedownwardly extending `arins L21 which are connected `by links and 23 4to 'the 'triangular Vp'ivo'tefd member-24 at the "front of the furnace, andl by :,ineans of aV` 'handle "25 applied to pthe piv.- oted Y Iineiiibei Q4 the -i-o`oki `sliafts 1 9 Avand VV2() can loe yrocked with lthe Aresult that the bars 16 :will lbefinovedfup and down, thus `lifting theffnel and ashes and, `'in effect, shaking the grate to Aprogiuce the desired results. The arnis 1,8 are otthesarneflength andhavethe' fFigrure'S is `a detail section/on line 8?-8' inclined receiving and coking ledge for delivering the coal to the inclined grate, in aV manner that will be readily understood. Lugs 28 on the plates 26 engage the lugs 29 on the member 14 to limit the tilting motion of these plates forming said ledge below the hopper. Each plate has an opening 30 through which a handle or bar can be inserted into the. recess 31 to rock the plate about its axis, and tlius each plate can be rocked separately without disturbing `the others when it is ldesired to feed the coal downward from the hopper. Of course, in a grate structure of this character, the raising and lowering of the bars 16 not only causes the burning fuel to slide 'downward on the grate, and the ashes to drop through into the ash pit below, but tends also to release the coal from the hopper, as any disturbance on the grate which causes the burning and coking fuel to slide downward there on will tend to release more fuel from the hopper; but, in order to facilitate the feeding of the fuel from the hopper, the plates 26 are rocked in the manner described, and if necessary a poker can be inserted through the opening 12 to push the fuel immediately below the hopper and thus facilitate the feeding thereof to the grate.`

The end, or horizontal grate section 32 is of any suitable character, and is mounted on the frames and 6 to rock about the transverse axis formed by the trunnions 33 and this' grate section is connected by a rod or link 34 with the bell-crank 35 pivoted at 36 on the front stationary structure of the furnace grate. The said trunnions are all fully covered, it will be seen, so that they are protected against ashes and clinkers and fuel. A handle 37 applied to said bell crank provides the means for rocking the gratey section 32 about its axis 33 in a manner. to

dump the ashes and exhausted fuel into the then be pulled outward, with the result that the rod 34 will tilt the section 32 of the grate.

The bars 13 have end notches 42 to engage the members 14 and 15, and a key 43 is inserted between the member and the end of said bars to lock them against downward `displacement By removing this key, the bars may be moved downward endwise, the notch 42 that engages the frame element 15 being long enough to permit this downward displacement of the bars, and this will disengage their upper ends from the member 14, so that any bar can be removed. Lugs 44 on the member 15 serve to space the bars 13 apart the required distance.

As shown in Figure 8, the rock shaft has end portions 45 which are supported in suitable bearings on the frame. By removing the bolts 46inserted through said bearings at the outer sides of the frame,the shaft 2O can be lifted out ofthe structure. y Similar means, it will be understood, are pro vided for supporting the shaft 19 on the frame. Therods 17 are removable to permit the bars 16 to be removed when necessary or desirable, and when this is done any bar 16 can be removed individually without the necessity of removing any other bar from the furnace.

It will be seen that the rocking members 24 and 35 are provided in duplicate, one for each side of the grate structure, so that either the right hand portion of the grate or the left hand portion thereof can be shaken independently,without shaking the other portion, as will be readily understood.

The pin 47 is preferably provided to lock the triangle 24 in normal position, thus holding thebars 16 in normal position, as shown. Then this pin is removed the bars 16 can then be raised'above the stationary bars 13, and then lowered below the same, so that in shaking the grate, or in doing what is equivalent in a general way to shaking the grate structure, the movable bars 16 rise and fallv above and below the top surface of the stationary bars. This allows the ashes to fall down between the bars, but does not disturb the fuel bed in a manner to mix the ashes provement, the plate 2 may be adjustable in the plane thereof,r by edgewise sliding dis plaeementon the supports 48, to vary the lilfle size ofthe hopper feed opening;v Of course, this adjustment canl be accomplished nr v'ariouswfays, for this purpose, astlhe obj eet to` be attained is the regulation-of the feeding action for fuel of different kinds.

Thus it will be seen thatr the stationary bars 13" are arranged in groups, with the` upper ends of each groul') seiL arate, but' wit'h their lower ends unitedfhy the' portions t9 shown more clearly in Fig. i of the draw'-V ings. There are three bars in each group, it will` be seen, except the center group, in which latter there are five bars connected t0- gether at their lower ends by the portion 50, and in this group the bars do not alternate with movable bars. In the groups having their lower ends united by the portions 49, the upper ends of such bars alternate with the long bar portions 27 previously described. Thus the short and long portions 27 form part of the grate structure, and are integral with the plates 10 which are smooth and fiat to receive the fuel from the hopper, and which feed the fresh fuel to the grate structure below.

TWithout disclaiming anything, and without prejudice to any novelty disclosed, what l claim as my invention is l. In a furnace grate, the combination of stationary inclined bars arranged in groups, with the bars of each group united at their lower ends but separated at their upper ends, movable inclined bars alternating with the stationary bars, the stationary bars eXu tending beyond the upper and lower ends of the movable bars, and mechanism to operate said movable bars and to raise and lower them a distance to move the fuel on the grate. y

2. A structure as specified in claim l, said bars being all so inclined at the same angle that the motion of the movable bars causes the fuel to move downward. on the grate.

3. A structure as specified in claim l, said movable bars having movement bodily in a rearward direction as well as upward, and a bridge wall toward which the fuel is caused to move by the shaking of the grate.

t. A structure as specified in claim l, said mechanism comprising roel: shafts provided with arms upon which the movable bars are pivoted and means to rock the shafts about parallel transverse axes of motion therefor.

5. A structure as specified in claim il, said movable bars being structurally separate from each other and removable from between said stationary bars.

G. A structure as specified in claim l, in combination with a hopper to feed the fuel to said grate, and a frame to support the entire grate in an inclined position to feed the fuel downward thereon from said hopper.

7. In a furnace grate, the combination of a hopper, an inclined grate structure, and oscillatory means comprising smooth flat inclined plates below said hopper and having their lower edges formed' with projections extending' into and forming a part of the upper portion of said grate structure, movable: about a transverse axis to feed the'fuel from' said` hopper to the upper end of the grate.

Ai structure as specifiedl inl claim-7, said' oscillatory means being mounted' to tilt about the transverse" axis to lift and stir the green fuel on the upper en'd portion of saidjine clinedl grate.v

9. A structure as specified in claim 7, said oscillatory means comprising means whereby each plate may be tilted without disturbing the others, and means to limit the tilt of said plates both up and down.

l0. A structure as specified in claim 7, there being' space between said hopper and the upper edge of said oscillatory means to provide an opening through which a poker can be inserted to stir the fuel.

ll. A structure as specified in claim 7, said grate structure having provisions to limit the up and down tilting motion of the lower edge of said oscillatingmeans.

l2. ln a furnace grate, the combination of a frame, stationary removable grate bars arranged in groups, with the bars of each group unitedV at their lower ends but sepakrated at their upper ends, having end notches to engage said frame, so that any group can be removed by downward endwise displacement thereof sufficient to disengage the upper end thereof, means engaging the lower ends of said bars to lock them against such displacement until the removal of any group is desired, and movable bars alternating with the stationary bars.

13. In a furnace grate, the combination of an inclined grate, and a hopper having a feed opening for feeding the coal to the upper end of the grate, said hopper having an inclined front plate which is movable edgewise in the plane thereof, substantially parallel with the upper portion of the grate to in effect change or vary the size of the hopper feed opening for different kinds of fuel, a tilting inclined member' immediately below the hopper to receive the fuel, with space between the upper edge of said member and the lower edge of said plate, which space is variable by the tilting of said member, said member being disposed in position to feed the fuel to the upper end of said grate.

14;. In a furnace grate, a set of relatively long stationary grate bars arranged in groups, with the bars of each group united at one end and separated at the other end, means extending between the separated ends to cooperate therewith to support the fuel, a set of relatively short movable grate bars alternating with the stationary bars, and in- .stiannentalities for moving the movablebars a distance 'above the stationary bars, and

also a distance below the tops of the latter, so that the fuel is raised and lowered on the grate.

15. A structure as specified in claim 14, in combination with means for supporting said grate in an inclined position, with said bars thereotl extending longitudinally of the grate structure, and said instrumentalities causing said movable bars to move upward and downward in a direction at an angle to the inclined plane of the grate, so that the fuel is moved rearward as well as upward.

16. A structure as speciiied in claim 14, in combination with means for locking said 1nstrumentalities against movement, so that 15 said movable bars up and down bodily in a 20 direction at right angles to the plane of the grate.

ROBERT H. KUSS. 

